I have to admit, I probably picked the best and worst time to get into Aira Mitsuki.

Because I’ll Be Back is the first new material she’s released since 2011. On the down side, it’s also the last thing she’s releasing before going into hiatus. But hopefully Mitsuki’s hiatus isn’t going to be like Saori@destiny’s where we’re never going to hear from her again. I choose to believe that she will be back! And until then, I can just archive binge on all her older material anyways.

So how does I’ll Be Back hold up? After all, it’s not just an album; it’s more-or-less a final sendoff before Mitsuki’s going to blast off into the cosmos on her giant space-train. I’d be lying if I didn’t say the bar was just a little bit raised when I first listened to this album. Honestly, the first time I listened to I’ll Be Back, I was kind of overwhelmed, because it was the first Aira Mitsuki music I’d listened to. I think I was just trying to get used to her sound and musical style. So I ended up putting the album aside for awhile and only coming back to listen to it a few weeks later.

Listening to the album again, I think I’ll Be Back has really grown on me. It also probably helps that I’ve listened to a few more of Aira Mitsuki’s songs. One aspect that I really like about the album is that it consists entirely of new songs, save for Hound Dog. Admittedly, I could have done without Hound Dog. The rest of the album has this very dreamlike, futuristic sound, but Hound Dog leans towards a much funkier, dance-style tune. It just stood out as a stark contrast to the otherwise very cohesive album.

Other than that, I have a pretty generally positive opinion of all the songs on I’ll Be Back. Of the thirteen tracks, Tell me, Make new world, Twinkle Twinkle, and Time Machine were my favorite songs. I especially liked Tell me; the upbeat energy of the song made for a very adrenaline-fueled listening. Actually, I feel like the second half of I’ll Be Back switched to a more upbeat tone than the first half of the album. I think after Make new world was when the energy-levels were cranked up a notch. I don’t know if that was intentional, but I kind of liked it.

The album also consists of three “interludes” which are just three very short instrumental breaks. I’m always a little iffy towards instrumental breaks in albums, but the ones in I’ll Be Back were actually pretty decent. All interludes are a mixture of various sounds such as an old-timey radio, a countdown, and even what I assume are snippets of older Aira Mitsuki songs. Would I have preferred three new songs in lieu of the interludes? Yes. But for instrumental breaks, the three interludes are pretty good!

For the most part, I enjoyed listening to I’ll Be Back. It’s not my favorite technopop album in the world, but it does make me want to delve further into Aira Mitsuki’s discography. The album has a very sleek, crisp and futuristic sound that conjures up images of traveling through space and all the future-y jazz you’d see in an episode of Star Trek. It’s a shame that Mitsuki’s going into hiatus after the release of this album, but for a send-off, I’ll Be Back works as a nice edition to the Technopop Icon’s discography.

I don’t know if or when Aira Mitsuki will be back but whenever that happens, I can definitely say I’ll be looking forward to it.